


Skrew(t)ed

by BethRedus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, i sort of varied a hogwarts tumblr promt, i take no responsibility for burn wounds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 12:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6005527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BethRedus/pseuds/BethRedus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione gets attacked by a remnant of the war</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skrew(t)ed

**Author's Note:**

> Please pardon the absolute corny title. I wish I was sorry.

**Skrew(t)ed**

 

Term was coming to an end and any doubt about global warning had long flown out of the high stained glass windows of Hogwarts into the sweltering July heat. The entire castle was suffering.  
It was only ten in the morning but the temperatures had already climbed high enough to make the dungeons a desirable location, motion sluggish and moods foul.  
Hermione had decided to take her last minute studying outside after she and Ron had had another row over breakfast. She had simply grabbed her book, leaving her things in the great hall. Who needed a cloak or cardigan anyhow? She was already dripping underneath her white blouse, her heavy curls perched in a bun on hear head like a fuzzy hat stuck to her forehead and the back of her neck. She undid her red-and-gold tie and the topmost buttons, stuffing it inside her skirt pocket along with her knee-socks.  
"Wool socks in this weather?” She grumbled to herself as she slid back into her shoes.  
She forced herself not to think about Ron as she made her way down to her favorite spot, a weeping willow by the side of the lake, where she could sit behind it´s green curtains and study in peace and quiet without being disturbed.  
It was most certainly a beautiful day, the lake reflecting the bluebird sky, the fresh green of the trees and the grass speckled with white and yellow flowers, the sun made all the colors shine like jewels. And the fact that it was Sunday meant the students had the day to themselves and after the fight with Ron she was completely free of any company, including Harrys and Ginnys  
Her eyes drifted to the cloudless sky. Apparently she wasn´t the only one searching for solitude: a lone quidditchplayer was circling over the arena. She squinted her eyes at the small figure, trying to make out the color of their jersey, but the sun was blinding her too much to make out who it might be. She watched their lazy spins and dives for a moment. Whoever it was, they were most certainly good.  
She stood there a few moments, enjoying the sun on her face, watching the flyer soar upwards and circle the hoops in tight arches, for once relaxed and not aware of her surroundings.

That is how the blast-ended Skrewt snuck up on her.

* * *

 

A sudden rustling sound made her turn away from the quidditch player she had been watching.  
She blinked once, for her eyes to focus on the different light conditions.  
She turned, only to come face to face with a ten foot long hideous creature resembling a scorpion with a grey shell and no visible head.  
She blinked again, to see if the mirage would disappear.  
It didn´t.

 _A male_. Her ever quick brain was able to provide despite the utter shell-shock she was in. _It has a stinger on it´s back, not a sucker. Also the pattern on its shell is more orange than red, which means it is a male skrewt._

She last time she had seen one had been in fourth year in Care of Magical creatures class and she had no fond memories of this particular breeding experiment of Hagrids. It had meant a lot of nasty cuts and bruises, not to mention the burns.  
Only a handful had grown into maturity, one of them had been part of the Triwizard tournament. During the chaos of the battle of Hogwarts the remaining few had escaped from their asbestos crates into the Forbidden Forest and now roamed the woods, lurking in the shadows of the trees; another reason why the forest was completely out of bounds for the students.  
Why this particular specimen had decided to leave the cool seclusion of the forest and attack the brightest witch of her age in the middle of the Hogwarts grounds was beyond her, but she wasn´t going to ask for a motivation letter. Then of course, being a hybrid of a manticore and a fire crab, the bloody beast probably felt right at home in this heat.  
Slowly, as not to startle the giant locust, she began reaching for her wand, only to realize that she had left it in the pocket of her cloak.  
Which was currently in the great hall.  
_Constant vigilance!_ She could practically hear Mad-eyes disappointed growl.  
The way things were looking he would be the one greeting her on the other side.  
_"Brightest witch of her age skewered by skrewt! Now that would be a Skeeter-worthy headline for the daily prophet tomorrow.”_ she thought bitterly.  
Despite her mind racing at full speed, her body was frozen stiff, she couldn´t move a muscle, her legs were shaking so much she was afraid she would fall over if she tried even taking a step backwards. Not that she could run for it. One blast from its end could propel the skrewt several yards.  
_"Curse the anti-apparation wards!_ ”  
Fear crawled through her veins like ice.  
She could barely breathe.  
The creature shifted in its eight legs*, it´s stinger hovered, twitching, over its back, ready to strike.  
It shuffled another step closer.  
She involuntarily squeaked.  
The skrewt pounced.  
Hermiones battle reflexes finally kicked in, adrenalin shot though her, as she threw herself sideways, dodging the poisonous stinger. She landed on her side in the grass with a high shriek, pain shooting through her ribs as she knocked her own knee against them.  
_Well, I might as well start screaming now._  
Her high-pitched yelling seemed to have startled and angered the skrewt at the same time. It dislodged its stinger from the ground where it had struck instead of lodging itself into her flesh and turned back on her.  
She scrambled to her feet, ready to drop and roll again. Her muscles tensed, her heart hammered, her magic hummed in her veins, unable to find an outlet without her wand. Her hair crackled with excessive energy, the hot breeze shifted to circle around her body.  
She knew skrewts were blind and that it could probably pinpoint her location due to her yelling, but she found it impossible to stop shrieking once she had started.  
Her psychiatrist probably hadn´t considered further battle situations where " _letting go of everything, holding in nothing"_ might mean instant death.  
Hermione hadn´t felt this kind of energy since the war, the hyperalertness, the coiling of her body, the rapid rasping of her lungs, any breath might being her last.  
She had always felt most alive, a hairs breath from death.  
And her will to live was always strongest.  
The skrewt struck again, she dodged his poisonous tip of the stringer again, but the blunt side struck her heavily across the face, sending her flying.  
She landed face first in the grass, stars dancing before her eyes, her cheekbone exploding into pain. Dirt made grinding sounds between her teeth. She forced herself to open her eyes, blinked as slowly the grass and a cluster of daisy came into focus.  
Her ears were still ringing when she heard a faint:

_"Granger!”_

Dear Lord, she was hearing already voices.  
They did say life flashes before ones eyes just before death, but she wasn´t quite dead yet.  
Her head throbbed painfully in the same pulse as her cheek, her vision went fuzzy again as she forced herself to stand. She blinked against the sun and the blurriness, fought against the unsteadiness of her feet. Her curls hung around her face.  
At least the slap had stopped her from shrieking any more.  
_"These bloody skrewts only have one weak spot. Maybe I can hurt it enough to buy me enough time to get away.”_  
It was a dangerous plan, a stupid and foolish plan, a plan that was most certainly going to fail, a plan with all odds against it. It was a plan worthy of a Griffindor.  
She took a deep breath and walked straight towards the skrewt.  
It halted, confused.  
As confused as a headless creature can look.  
It tentatively swiped at the witch with one of his front legs.  
She sidestepped and continued her frontal attack, slowly stepping closer, so close she could see the individual ridges of it´s shell and smell its horrible fish stench.  
Despite the urge to gag, she took a deep breath to calm herself.  
The skrewts stinger hovered directly over her, quivering.  
Her own muscles coiled, ready to spring.  
The skrewt struck a third time and she propelled herself at it, directly at the skrewt.  
And the poisonous stinger struck the ground for a third time, as she dropped and rolled through its legs under its body, both her legs kicking upwards, kicking its soft unarmored belly, its only weak spot. The skrewt shrieked almost as loud as she had done before and reared upwards, hissing.  
She quickly scrabbled out from under the heavy animal as it folded its legs, dropping to the ground to protect its underside.  
As Hermione crawled away from the creature, her vision began closing in on her. It had done more damage than she had first realized when it had knocked her around the head and off her feet. She knew she should run, but she couldn´t, she was too woozy.  
The skrewt next to her kept on it´s high pitched hissing, stinger whipping back and fourth, dangerously close to her.  
She had really angered it now. And she was too injured to run.  
_"Well, three time´s the charm.”_ She thought, dazed. , _,I can´t dodge a fourth attack.”_

"Granger!”

"Strange.” she mumbled to herself. "I would have never thought  _he_ would start my pity party parade to the afterlife.”  
"Granger!” The voice was now louder. And much closer.  
She frowned, pushing herself up onto her elbows into a sitting position. Her eyes skimmed the grounds, the path to the castle, the lake shore.  
But there was no one there.

"GRANGER! TAKE MY HAND!”

Hermione whipped her head around to see none other than Draco Malfoy hurtling down at her with breakneck speed from the sky.

**Author's Note:**

> The rest is currently being typed out.  
> Those who share my As-quidditch-jersey-on-B fetish, rejoice!
> 
> *As this lovely creature was bred from a crab, I decided it has eight legs like a crab. Technically crabs have ten, as their pincers could as an extra set of legs, but never mind.


End file.
